World Cup Weekend – Goals, People. Really.

Saturday and Sunday’s World Cup games are in the books, six games with five winners.

June 12, 2010

So with Group A all knotted up at a boring one point, Saturday brought us something we were lacking:  A winner.

GROUP B – FIFA Rankings (#)

South Korea (47), Argentina (7), Nigeria (21), Greece (13)

South Korea 2 – 0 Greece

I’ll make sure I post the FIFA rankings for the first week of play, but after that… well, they don’t mean anything. Greece was dismantled and humbled by South Korea. This is not entirely surprising considering Greece has no offensive presence on their team.  They are ranked 13^th because they play better competition, not because they are better.  Korea should not expect to beat Argentina in their next game, but Nigeria did not look good against Argentina.  If Korea can score, then they can be a tough out in the Round of 16.

Argentina 1 – 0 Nigeria

This was one of those 1-0 losses that should have been 4-0.  I do not know how much you can take from this game because Argentina is that good and Nigeria is quite a young team.   The diving head ball was a great goal.  There is not much to say about this game other than Argentina showed why it is one of the teams to beat this month.

From the looks of things, Argentina and South Korea look like the better teams in Group B.

GROUP C – FIFA Rankings (#)

Slovenia (25), USA (14), England (8), Algeria (30)

All of the experts believe the England will win the group and the United States will place second.   Slovenia and Algeria are worse than their rankings indicate, so any tie or loss to either team would be embarrassing.

England 1 – 1 USA

England cannot be happy, but it is not the end of the world. England should go out and beat Slovenia and Algeria with ease and end with 7 points. At least that is the plan. The United States has the same plan: win both games and they are in. Both Slovenia and Algeria play similar styles. No use discussing what happened. England looked frustrated and should have scored a couple goals. The United States played as they usually play: ugly. USA should have scored a few as well. While England cannot be happy with the tie, they are still in a great position to move into the Round of 16.

June 13, 2010

Slovenia 1 – 0 Algeria

Slovenia complicated things by winning 1-0.  They outplayed Algeria, but scored on a soft goal.  Not much to say about this match other than Slovenia plays like the US team.   Oh, and Algeria will end with zero points.   That is a fact.

Looking ahead, England plays Slovenia last.  This makes Slovenia’s win a big deal.  If Slovenia loses or ties the United States, then they will play hard to beat England.  If England and the United States win, then England will have to play hard to beat Slovenia, not tie, because they want the top spot in the next round.  Whoever wins Group C plays second place in Group D.  The favored winner is Germany.  Nobody wants to play Germany.  Ever.

GROUP D – Rankings (#)

Germany (6), Ghana (32), Serbia (15), Australia (20)

Ghana 1 – 0 Serbia

Germany 4 – 0 Australia

I will group these games together.  Two wins, which was nice to see.

Serbia had a few chances, but Ghana showed they were the better team that day.  This leaves Serbia with a huge problem: Germany. Serbia won their qualifying group, but never beat France. The team could implode. They entered the World Cup with doubt as they have not beaten a great team. Now Ghana beat them and Serbia must win its next two games starting with Germany on Friday. If Ghana beats Australia, which appears likely, then they will rest players with yellow cards heading into the Germany game. Germany beats or ties Serbia, then they are in the Round of 16.  If Serbia beats Germany, then it could come down to goal differential, and Germany could have scored a few more goals in their opening game.